The story began on September 2, when Donald Trump affirmed That the United States Armed Forces had executed a precision attack against a “positively identified” vessel that transported drugs from Venezuela and was operated by members of the Aragua Train, designated by Washington as narcoterrorist, with a balance of eleven dead according to their own story.
From then on until now all kinds of events have occurred.
The video. Shortly after, the president amplified the message with A declassified video Through social truth that shows the detonation of a white missile in the high seas and a public warning to future traffickers, while Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, He corroborated the characterization of “lethal coup” against an objective that would have sailed from Venezuelan coasts.
A senior defense official, cited in the background, confirmed The action as a precision attack against a “Drug Vessel”, in line with the known employment of rapid boats of three or four force used for cocaine routes to the north.
Context and political framework. The announcement came days after Trump will order to deploy Three marine ships in the Caribbean to reinforce the interdiction of posters against Venezuela, expanding the role of the pentagon in missions traditionally led by the coastal guard.
The president already He had instructed At the beginning of the year to prepare force use options against transnational criminal organizations after declaring them as foreign terrorist organizations in executive order, an framing that seeks to provide greater legal flexibility to extraterritorial kinetic operations. In parallel, the treasure sanctioned to the so -called Cartel de los Soles (Officer Network accused by Washington of drug trafficking and supporting the Aragua Train and the Sinaloa Cartel) as a specially designated global terrorist entity, consolidating a financial and safety pressure scaffolding.
Caracas responds. Shortly after, Nicolás Maduro, whom the United States considers an illegitimate ruler for electoral fraud, human rights and drug trafficking violations, He warned That Rubio pushed Trump towards war and promised resistance if Venezuela is attacked, describing US military accumulation as “the greatest threat that our continent has seen in 100 years.”
Although the Venezuelan government did not immediately react to the concrete attack, the martial tone and the doctrine of “defense of the territory” enunciated by Maduro raise the political bar and increase the risk of incidents of narrative or operational climbing in a dense maritime environment and complex jurisdictions.
The norm vs the lethal force. It also happened another problem. I remembered The Wall Street Journal that the expansion of the prominence of the Pentagon contrasted with the standard procedures of the Coast Guard described by the former United States embassy in Panama, John Feeley: Identification, stop orders, priority for preserving life, neutralization of engines with .50 caliber shooters from helicopters if the boat tries to flee and approach to verify load.
According to that doctrine, the use of direct lethal fire is not the norm except in legitimate defense; Hence, the kinetic destruction of a suspicious boat, without the typical sequence of “interdiction and approach”, represents a qualitative leap in commitment rules and in the signal issued to criminal networks and the states that shelter them.
The video goes on a suspect. The clip, which Trump presented as proof of the effectiveness of its anti -drug strategy and as a warning to organized crime, He went to the protagonist being quickly questioned by Caracas.
Freddy Ñáñez, Minister of Venezuelan Communication, accused in the networks Social to the president to disseminate images “generated by artificial intelligence”, pointing out the aesthetics “almost caricaturesca” of the explosion, visual artifacts and water with an artificial aspect, characteristic of synthetic productions. He did it with an equally doubtful study. Namely: He asked Google’s AI, Gemini, what seemed to him the sequence, and it responded after an analysis that “it was very likely” that it would have been created generated by ia.
The doubts to the operation. Again, Trump said the ship crew belonged to the Aragua Train, a Venezuelan criminal organization designated by Washington as a terrorist group in February. However, the veracity of the material was questioned. Reuters Indian That he did not find conclusive manipulation evidence, although he continues to review the video as part of his verification process.
Beyond the technical debate, security experts They expressed reservations On the performance in itself following the exhibition of Feeley and remembering that the usual practices of the Coast Guard seek to preserve lives and rarely open fire against suspicious vessels, since most crews are surrendered without resistance.
Electoral key message. Plus: The episode has acquired a greater relevance for the context in which it occurred: it was Trump’s first public appearance in a week, in the midst of Speculations about your status Health at 79.
The video became A propaganda instrument More than in a military part, used by the president and his main ministers (Marco Rubio outdoors and Pete Hegseth in defense) to underline his hard hand against drug trafficking. The message that accompanied the clip In social Truth, written with Trump’s usual excessive style, reinforced the intimidating tone towards any attempt to introduce drugs in the United States.
The shadow of AI. In addition, the controversy has spread to the broadest field of digital manipulation. Ñáñez insisted in which the piece was an artificial creation aimed at manufacturing a media victory, while, in parallel, Trump himself contributed to confusion by disqualifying as “probably generated by AI” another viral recording that showed alleged objects thrown through a White House window, despite the fact that the Executive himself himself He had explained which was a contractor performing maintenance work.
The contradiction fed the perception of a president willing to use the Technological ambiguity To mold the political story.
F-16A of Venezuela
Two fighters appear. In the last hours the tension has increased. The pentagon confirmed that two Venezuelan fighters F-16 They approached To the American destroyer USS Jasson Dunham, a Arleight Burke class ship deployed in the Caribbean as part of the drug trafficking interdiction campaign.
Washington He stressed that the ship was in international waters and warned Caracas against any attempt to “obscure, deter or interfere” in US operations. The episode has occurred just a few days after the boat offensive, which gives the air maneuver the political and symbolic response character of Maduro against US military pressure.
Venezuelan sign. Twz analysts They remembered This morning that the Venezuelan F-16, A/B versions acquired in the 1980s to the United States Air Force itself, were presented as part of a “show of force” in a moment of maximum tension.
Venezuela keeps a reduced number Of these aircraft, whose maintenance has been hindered by sanctions and logistics deficiencies, which turns its appearance into a calculated gesture rather than a real operational threat. By flying over or approaching an advanced destroyer, Caracas seeks to send a message of sovereign resistance and project the idea that it will not give ground in its regional space despite the overwhelming naval and aerial superiority of the United States.
A new informative war. In summary, the episode reveals how the border between real and narrative operations manufactured It is blurred in times of artificial intelligence and propaganda. While discussing whether the video is authentic or not, the wanted effect has already been achieved: project Trump as a relentless leader in the face of transnational crime and divert attention to land where the control of the image is worth as much as the control of the facts.
In a year marked by electoral tensions and internal questions about his ability to govern, the president He turns To emerging technology and the theatricalization of violence as political weapons, in a scenario where the truth becomes a field of dispute as strategic as any battlefield.
Image | Trump Screenp, USN/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Theoplis Stewart II, Venezuelan Air Force
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